Author: Dwight J. Friesen

to reverse evil is to live

The Beloved Disciple records many of Christ’s statements of self and mission like his “I am…” and “I have come…” declarations. One of these is recorded in the tenth chapter of the John’s Gospel. It is here we witness Christ

Dwight J. Friesen October 9, 2004May 6, 2022

toward the fulfillment of evil in Christ

In last night’s in Thinking Theologically class a we were looking at God as Creator. And side-tracked into an excellent conversation about the origin of evil, and whether or not God creates evil. Did spoken language exist prior to God’s

Dwight J. Friesen October 8, 2004May 6, 2022

Commodification

Recently I heard Ken Myers interview Vincent Miller regarding his new book Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture. The interview was outstanding. And dealt with, how the commodification of everything affects our sense of religious faith

Dwight J. Friesen October 3, 2004January 14, 2021

more than a good laugh

Lynette and I use New Years day as a reminder to sit down and have a conversation regarding who we sense ourselves becoming. We used set goals but we rarely do rather rather our conversations attempt to articulate trajectory; give

Dwight J. Friesen October 1, 2004May 6, 2022

Excited & Nervous

Today is a big day for me, as I will be presenting my first full lecture at Mars Hill Graduate School.  I’ve been a Teaching Assistant for a while and this Fall became a part-time junior faculty member.  Though I

Dwight J. Friesen September 30, 2004January 6, 2023

sweet fragrance

This morning I was graced to be with Jamal Rahman; a kind, humble, and open Islamic cleric and author of the outstanding book, The Fragrance of Faith: the enlightened heart of Islam. I want to learn in praxis how to

Dwight J. Friesen September 28, 2004January 14, 2021

the E-word

Avant-churches don’t spend much time talking about evangelism anymore. Maybe for good reason. The fifty years following WWII Western evangelicalism produced hordes of evangelism techniques, manuals, tracts, laws, programs, para-church ministries, etc. This was vital to the modern evangelical project.

Dwight J. Friesen September 26, 2004May 6, 2022

the “parish” corrective

The return of the parish appears to be an ecclesial movement sweeping Western Christ-communities.  I’ve been thinking of it as the parish corrective.  I would characterize this corrective as a local church move to embody “full life” or embody the

Dwight J. Friesen September 24, 2004December 7, 2020

Watching Innocence Fade

Innocence cannot be saved. It seems every child will experience this loss. And it always hurts. Yesterday I watched as my three-year-old son lost some of his innocence to a small group of boys ranging from 4-8 year-olds who were

Dwight J. Friesen September 14, 2004May 6, 2022

S’lichot & 9-11

It was a friend’s birthday yesterday.  Her birthday was forever changed three years ago.  As you know, yesterday was the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks that we now simply refer to as 9-11.  Yesterday was also Jewish S’lichot in

Dwight J. Friesen September 12, 2004September 13, 2022

yes, and…

It is my hope that even our harshest critics can serve a vital role in our “becoming.”  Look at the shaping impact of the protestant church on the church of Rome; could there have been a Vatican 2, without the

Dwight J. Friesen September 10, 2004October 25, 2022

a mostly unhelpful conservative critique of the emerging church

D. A. Carson who was one of the more respected Conservative evangelical New Testament scholars and one of my former teachers, has recently offered the following criticism of the “emerging church.”  In Dr. Carson’s clear, and at times, biting comments, he raises

Dwight J. Friesen September 2, 2004November 30, 2020

stone soup

I enjoy making soup. I literally have a pot of soup on right now. So see a few months back Lynette and I made a ham. And in my mind, any ham meal has a soup chaser. I put the

Dwight J. Friesen September 1, 2004January 14, 2021

“God, forgive me for my thoughts of you”

“Theology is the study of God and [God’s] ways.  For all we know, dung beetles may study us and our ways and call it humanology.  If so, we would probably be more touched and amused than irritated.  One hopes that

Dwight J. Friesen August 31, 2004May 6, 2022

meta-religion

I’ve been reading a bunch of Biblical Theology this summer. Something that I am beginning to question is what Paul, Mark, Matthew, John, et al thought they were inviting people to when inviting people to follow Christ. I’m pretty sure

Dwight J. Friesen August 29, 2004December 13, 2020

shame & hiding

I’ve continued sitting with the idea of being “created for not knowing.”  Which has going back to scripture’s creation accounts, to look afresh at what immediately follows the introduction of the knowledge of good and evil.  Shame rushes in as an accuser; and

Dwight J. Friesen August 27, 2004May 6, 2022

young love, part 2

Let me pick up from my “young love” post of yesterday. So I was a poor college student recently home from studying abroad. Lynette’s birthday was coming up and I didn’t have two cents to rub together. I opted to

Dwight J. Friesen August 27, 2004October 25, 2022

Created Not to Know?

My friend Jacob popped by for a few minutes today – I really love it when friends drop by especially unannounced – always a nice surprise. And he tells me about a conversation he was having while mountain climbing with

Dwight J. Friesen August 26, 2004January 15, 2021

young love

Before Lynette and I were married – like most young lovers, I suppose – I was certifiably nuts about her. Though we first knew each other as kids and had hung out together through much of our junior and senior

Dwight J. Friesen August 26, 2004May 6, 2022

New Journal

I am switching to a different blog service so it will take me a little while to move the links from my archived blog to this one.  Bear with me.  But please note that new the site supports syndication, RSS

Dwight J. Friesen August 25, 2004November 25, 2022

Swamped

I been so swamped lately I don’t know which way is up. We spent part of last week in Canada last week, visiting my folks. It was nice to be together though we almost missed the ferry on our way

Dwight J. Friesen August 24, 2004November 25, 2022

Theological Conversation

So I’m thinking of participating in the theological conversation sponsored by emergent featuring Walter Brueggemann. I’ve deeply appreciated Dr. Brueggemann’s and his ongoing contribution to biblical scholarship. It would be great to interact with other emergent theologians in an intimate

Dwight J. Friesen August 17, 2004November 25, 2022

Satan… “The” Nihilist?

Todd Trembley – who is fast becoming one of my favorite people – is also one of the most creative thinkers I know. He’s got me thinking about Satan… of all things! Could it be that Satan is the ultimate

Dwight J. Friesen August 16, 2004November 25, 2022

…made me smile

Don’t know why I’m posting this, other than it made me smile… Peace, dwight

Dwight J. Friesen August 16, 2004November 26, 2022

Learning to Love

One of the first people Lynette & I connected with when we moved to metro-Seattle (roughly eight years ago) was Mark Driscoll. Mark is the founding pastor of Marshill Fellowship, a dynamic communicator, intelligent, driven, and fiercely committed to the

Dwight J. Friesen August 12, 2004November 27, 2022

“but God”

but God by Dwight J. Friesen I walked I ran I put my headphones on I turned up the noise I flipped the channels I changed lanes I turned the page I sampled a taste I couldn’t sit still I

Dwight J. Friesen August 11, 2004September 13, 2022

Mislabeled?

I’m wondering whether we may have mislabeled Genesis chapter 3. We commonly refer to this the events of this narrative as “the fall.” Fall frames it pretty I wondering what might happen if rather than viewing that narrative as a

Dwight J. Friesen August 10, 2004November 27, 2022

playground & violence

As you my know, I am strive to live a life of non-violence. Well, I had lunch with Paul Steinke yesterday and we were talking about violence and Christian responses and he was lovingly challenging me on my stance, and

Dwight J. Friesen August 8, 2004November 26, 2022

Grading

OK, so I’m breaking my Sabbath. For a few years Saturdays have been days of rest which I have primarily defined as non-computer days for me; no email, no blogging, no writing, no browsing, no gaming, etc. Saturdays are family

Dwight J. Friesen August 7, 2004November 28, 2022

Character & Time

The other day I was watching a rerun of “The Simpsons” – such a great show. It was an episode from the first season. What stood out to me was that in the first season the writers didn’t know the

Dwight J. Friesen August 6, 2004November 28, 2022